Their majority shareholder was engineering, and construction company Shenzhen Techand Ecological Environment Co., Ltd.[1] The club was founded on 3 July 2003 as Dongguan Nancheng F.C.

(Simplified Chinese: 东莞南城足球俱乐部) by the Dongguan City Sports Bureau who created them as a Phoenix club to Guangdong Hongyuan F.C.

In the campaign they topped the group stages and reached the semi-final within the play-off's where they lost 3–2 to Nancheng Bayi Hengyuan in extra time, missing out on promotion.

[9] After that disappointment the club pulled out of the league and disbanded their first team, however they still maintained their youth system after the season ended.

[14] A new badge, a change in home colours to red over the previous yellow tops and blue shorts would complete their transformation of the club.